


Kindergarten

by pizZiCcato



Series: MuraHimu Week 2015 [4]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Kindergarten, Cupcakes, Day 4 Entry, Family, Gen, Himuro is a kindergarten teacher, Himuro is kind of dense, M/M, MuraHimu Week 2015, Murasakibara is a pastry chef, Murasakibara is too shy, Music, This is weird, unedited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2015-10-29
Packaged: 2018-04-28 18:54:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5101886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pizZiCcato/pseuds/pizZiCcato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The kindergarten isn't really the best place to meet people, but that's not the case for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kindergarten

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4: Cupcake (10/29)
> 
> Family  
>  Music

Being a teacher can be very tiring at times. Tatsuya found himself wondering on more than one occasion, why had he decided to be one? A kindergarten teacher, no less.

Oh, that’s right. He couldn’t get a job and the offer to basically become a babysitter seemed good enough at the time.

“Himuro-sensei, Izumo-kun fell from a tree!”

Today’s one of his unlucky days, it seems. Even from inside the classroom, Tatsuya could hear the children’s panicked screaming outside. It grated on his nerves, but Tatsuya managed to smile at the small girl who’d told him the news. “Thank you for telling me, Ayano. I’ll be outside in a moment.”

Ayano nodded vigorously and ran out of the room. Tatsuya followed with a sigh. He’d told Izumo not to climb the trees in the yard so many times, but the brat was stubborn. Now what was Tatsuya supposed to say when the boy’s parents come to pick him up?

“Kazunari, please call Izumo’s parents,” Tatsuya called out to one of the teachers when he passed the office. Kazunari gave him a thumbs-up and picked up the phone immediately. Tatsuya pinched the bridge of his nose as he continued walking. Izumo had better not broken anything important when he fell.

 

Turns out Izumo had only scraped his elbows and knees. By the time Tatsuya had gotten there, Tetsuya had calmed everyone down without seeming stressed himself. Nothing seems to faze that guy.

After thanking Tetsuya quietly, Tatsuya took Izumo to the office to take care of his wounds. Izumo sniffled a few times when Tatsuya was treating him, but refused to let any tears fall.

“Didn’t I tell you not to climb the trees, Izumo?” Tatsuya reprimanded quietly.

Izumo bristled. “I was curious, okay?”

Tatsuya sighed. He finished wrapping up Izumo’s wounds and patted his knee lightly. “I expect you to learn from this. You’d better explain to your parents yourself later.”

The door to the office opened right at that moment. A rather childish voice then called out, “Izu, are you there?”

Izumo’s entire being lit up instantly. “Atsu-nii!”

Tatsuya watched, eyebrows raised, as Izumo jumped off his chair and ran to the door with no regard to his scraped knees. His brows raised further when he saw the man referred to as ‘Atsu-nii’.

Standing at the doorway is the tallest man Tatsuya had ever laid eyes on. He had to stoop down to enter the room, so he’s probably around 7 feet tall. His hair was purple (Tatsuya almost choked at that) and hanging loosely around his face. His eyes, also purple, were half-lidded, as if he’d just woken up. But they seemed to light up upon seeing Izumo.

Tatsuya felt his lips twitch into a smile when Izumo plastered himself on the purple-haired giant’s leg, grinning so widely his face might split open. He approached them and bowed slightly. “Good afternoon. Are you Izumo’s guardian?”

‘Atsu-nii’ stared at Tatsuya. Five seconds passed. Ten. Fifteen. Tatsuya felt his smile growing strained. After what felt like ages, Izumo broke the silence. “Atsu-nii, staring is rude.”

That man blinked. Then, “Izu’s parents are busy, so they told me to come get him.”

Tatsuya nodded. “I see. Are you his guardian?”

“No, I’m his cousin. I work for his parents at the bakery.” He reached down to pull Izumo off his leg and take the boy’s hand in his own. “Bye.”

Tatsuya then watched as they walked away. A gigantic man and a little boy less than half his size. It makes an interesting sight.

 

It wasn’t until a few days later did Tatsuya finally realize that Izumo had talked about his ‘Atsu-nii’ so many times in class. He was the person Izumo wrote about when given the topic ‘The person I admire most’. He was also the one Izumo wrote about when give the topic ‘My best friend’.

Tatsuya remembered how Izumo had wrote about his friend being a giant, and how he’d thought the boy had exaggerated his friend’s height. After seeing said friend himself, though, Tatsuya could say that he definitely hadn’t exaggerated.

“Himuro-sensei, I’ve finished drawing!”

Tatsuya squatted down next to one of the small tables. “What did you draw, Izumo?”

Izumo grinned and held up his drawing. “It’s Atsu-nii! You met him yesterday. That’s a cupcake in his hand, he’s great at making those. You should try it sometime!”

Izumo’s drawing looked more like a shapeless blob with one appendage-thing stretched out, a weird lump on top of said appendage, but from the purple scratches on what must’ve been its head, Tatsuya could deduce that it was ‘Atsu-nii’. “Oh, that’s nice, Izumo.” He smiled.

A bright grin from Izumo. He looked down, as if embarrassed, and added more purple onto his drawing. Tatsuya watched quietly, because the other children are still busy drawing their own pictures. “Hey, Izumo. What kind of person is Atsu-nii?”

Izumo looked up. “Only I get to call him Atsu-nii. My parents usually call him Atsushi, so you should call him that.”

Tatsuya smiled. Now he can put a proper name on that guy instead of dubbing him ‘Atsu-nii’ every time he thinks of him. “Okay then. What kind of person is Atsushi?”

Izumo’s bright grin returned with full force. “He’s the greatest, Himuro-sensei! He’s so cool, he can make all sorts of sweets and all sorts of cakes! He always lets me taste test them and they’re the best things I’ve ever tasted! Maybe I’ll let you try them sometime, if I can convince him to come here again…”

A huge person like that is good at baking? The world is a weird place, Tatsuya thought, but it was definitely interesting. “So he helps your parents at the bakery?” he asked, recalling what Atsushi had said before.

Izumo nodded. “Yeah. Everyone likes his cakes, so the place is usually packed. When my parents want to take the day off, they’d tell Atsu-nii to take me somewhere while they go somewhere else. He usually takes me to buy sweets, but sometimes we play basketball. He’s so tall, so he’s awesome at that too.”

Sometimes Tatsuya forgets how much one can learn about a person just from talking to a child who’s close to them. He patted Izumo’s head as he got up. “Thank you for telling me that, Izumo. It’s nice talking to you.”

 

Tatsuya wasn’t really expecting to see Atsushi again, but only a few days after that talk with Izumo, Atsushi showed up at the end of their class. Just like in their previous meeting, Atsushi stared at Tatsuya, barely responding to Izumo’s yell of ‘Atsu-nii!’

Having Atsushi’s gaze fixed solely on him was quite unsettling, but Tatsuya still managed a smile. “Hello. Atsushi, right? Are you here to take Izumo home?”

Atsushi only grunted, still staring at Tatsuya. Silence fell over them, which had to be broken by Izumo, just like before. “Atsu-nii, staring is rude!”

Atsushi jumped when Izumo slapped his leg. Tatsuya scoffed to hide his laughter. Atsushi looked at him incredulously, as if saying ‘what’s so funny?’

Tatsuya grinned. He squatted down in front of Izumo and said, “Slapping people isn’t nice, Izumo. Don’t do that, okay? Now go home with Atsu-nii, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Izumo nodded. “Bye-bye, Himuro-sensei!” He waved at Tatsuya as he finally left with Atsushi. Atsushi gave him one last glance before hurrying away, Izumo happily running with him.

Tatsuya found himself smiling to himself long after they were gone. Atsushi is quite interesting, alright.

 

Atsushi came to pick Izumo up pretty much every day after that, but the exchange between him and Tatsuya hadn’t changed much. Atsushi still stared at Tatsuya with that unsettlingly focused look of his (even though he still looks half-asleep most of the time) and Tatsuya can’t stop wondering why.

“Izumo, do you know why Atsushi keeps staring at me?” Tatsuya decided to ask. It was half an hour after class and most of the other children had gone home. Izumo was usually one of the last to leave.

Izumo tilted his head, humming softly. “Maybe he thinks Himuro-sensei is pretty?”

Tatsuya blinked. “I’m pretty?”

Izumo grinned. “Yeah! Himuro-sensei is the prettiest person I’ve ever seen!”

Tatsuya felt a little offended by that, because he’s a guy, damn it, but kids don’t know that calling a guy pretty might be offensive, so he just smiled. “Thank you, Izumo.”

As if on cue, Atsushi walked in right at that moment. Izumo immediately ran to him. “Atsu-nii! Don’t you think Himuro-sensei is pretty?”

At first, Tatsuya thought Atsushi would just stare at him just like all the previous times, but then the unexpected happened. Atsushi _blushed_. As in, he went red to the tips of his ears. He stared at Izumo with wide eyes, as if not believing that Izumo had really asked that.

That’s an interesting reaction. Tatsuya laughed into his hand, because Atsushi looked unexpectedly cute like that. Atsushi’s blush deepened, if possible.

Izumo was laughing more loudly than Tatsuya, openly bellowing with laughter. “Atsu-nii is blushing! Atsu-nii is blushing!” he shouted, as if announcing it to the world. Luckily, they were the only ones in the room, but the office is only two doors down, so Kazunari and Tetsuya might hear the ruckus and come to see what it’s all about.

Atsushi made a funny sound, almost like a squawk, and grabbed Izumo’s shoulder. “Izu, stop shouting that!”

Izumo stopped, but he was still cackling. Tatsuya found himself laughing more openly too, because Izumo’s laugh was infectious. Atsushi first looked constipated, but he soon started laughing also.

After a few minutes of uncontrollable laughing, they finally stopped. Atsushi took his phone out of his pocket, widened his eyes, and shoved the thing back into his pocket. He took Izumo’s hand. “We have to get going now, Izu.”

“Aw, we can’t stay any longer?” Izumo pouted, but his grin returned soon enough. “No matter, there’s still tomorrow. By, Himuro-sensei!”

Tatsuya saw them off that day with a better mood than he would’ve thought possible.

 

Izumo’s father came to pick him up the next day. He was fairly small, even shorter than Tatsuya, with red hair and eyes. He has a nice smile, but Tatsuya had a feeling that he was very strict.

“You must be Himuro Tatsuya. I’ve heard a lot about you from Atsushi. Thank you for taking care of Izumo.” That man bowed. Tatsuya blinked. Parents these days don’t usually thank the teachers that way.

“Ah, no, I’m just doing my job.” Tatsuya smiled. They exchanged some more pleasantries, then Izumo and his father left, leaving Tatsuya alone.

With nothing left to do, Tatsuya started cleaning up the classroom. It didn’t take him long to finish. He then sat at his desk, staring at the clock. His train doesn’t leave for another hour. What should he do now?

He closed his eyes, reminiscing his high school days. Back then, if anyone had told him that he’s going to be a kindergarten teacher, he would’ve laughed and told them to get their heads checked. He’d felt like he was on top of the world then; his grades are good, he’s popular, what else was there to want?

At the time, he’d wanted to be a singer. It had seemed really awesome back then, plus he’s pretty good at singing, so why not? The competition’s real intense, so what? He wouldn’t know if he didn’t try.

He tried, and he failed. He didn’t think he’d ever really sung after that. But he quite missed singing…

Tatsuya opened his eyes and looked around. There’s nobody around. Now should be a good time, right? He closed his eyes again and started humming a long forgotten song from his childhood. A song his mother had once sung to him, a nameless song he had never heard coming from anyone else.

He stopped when he felt someone’s eyes on him. He opened his eyes and turned to the doorway, eyes widening when he spotted Atsushi’s looming figure there. “Atsushi?”

Atsushi blushed. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“It’s fine.” Tatsuya got up. “What are you doing here?”

Atsushi seemed like he wanted to shrink himself. “I… wanted to pick Izu up?” he asked more than said.

Tatsuya felt a smile tug at the corners of his lips. “Don’t you think it’s kind of late to pick up a kindergarten student? Besides, his father must’ve told you that he’d picked him up himself.”

Atsushi’s face flushed a deeper red. “Okay, fine. Izu told me to give you this.” He strode into the room quickly and shoved a paper bag toward Tatsuya.

Tatsuya blinked as he took the paper bag. “What’s this?”

Atsushi just stared as Tatsuya opened the bag and took out its content. Tatsuya’s eyes widened. “Cupcake?”

Atsushi looked away when Tatsuya turned to him. “Izu said you need to taste my cupcake.”

Tatsuya felt his lips twitch into a smile. “Thank you for delivering this to me. I’ve heard that you make great cupcakes.” He picked out a piece of the cupcake and nibbled on it. His eyes widened.

Atsushi was shuffling nervously when Tatsuya looked at him again. “Atsushi,” he said slowly, “You should make more of these. They’re delicious.”

Atsushi lit up at that. “Really?”

Tatsuya grinned. “Of course. I can see why Izumo kept praising you.” He started scarfing the cupcake down quickly.

“If you want, I can give you one of these every day,” Atsushi offered.

“No, you don’t have to do that. Only once in a while would be fine,” Tatsuya waved his hand. “Besides, eating these everyday will make me gain weight.”

“Even if that happens, Muro-chin is still Muro-chin, so I don’t mind,” Atsushi muttered.

Tatsuya blinked. “Muro-chin?”

Atsushi’s blush, which had died down somewhat, returned in full force. “Ah– No, that’s…” he trailed away and lowered his head, probably hiding his blush.

Tatsuya laughed, more open than he had ever done in his life, because Atsushi is too cute for such a large person. Atsushi peeked at him through his hair, which made Tatsuya laugh harder. Tatsuya continued laughing for a moment, and patted Atsushi’s shoulder when he finally calmed down. “Atsushi, has anyone ever told you that you’re cute?”

“Cute?” Atsushi blinked, looking like a lost kid, “No. I’m big, in case you haven’t noticed. Big is the opposite of cute.”

“No,” Tatsuya reached up to pat Atsushi’s head, “You’re plenty cute enough.”

Atsushi pouted. Tatsuya laughed again. Atsushi is _definitely_ an interesting person.

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of too cute for me. I finally got the idea for this one after brainstorming with my friends this morning.  
> I hope Murasakibara isn't too OOC here.  
> Tomorrow is Himuro's birthday. I hope I can make something more... special.


End file.
